Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-year-1-of-the-computer-science-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2005/calculus-linear-algebra-discrete-mathematics-logic-and-proof-and-models-of-computation/2/b/solution

For the first matrix, the characteristic polynomial is
Thus the real eigenvalues are . Corresponding eigenvectors are , and . They are linearly independent; the determinant of the matrix with these columns is . Therefore
For example, multiplying the first column by gives , four times that column; multiplying the second gives , its negative. These also check the chosen eigenvectors directly.
For the second matrix,
The quadratic factor has negative discriminant , so is the only real eigenvalue. Solving gives , a one-dimensional eigenspace. It cannot provide a basis of , so

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